Huangfu Zhanghao's current appearance was very miserable. Even though he already did his best and retreated in time, because an incautious body movement was a little slow, the result was that over twenty sword lights had pierced him.
If it were merely injuries to the muscles, it'd be okay. Unfortunately, several sword lights had skewered his internal organs — The only thing worth rejoicing over was that his heart was merely grazed and hadn't been completely run through.
It was also fortunate that his heart wasn't stabbed, otherwise the moment Zhanghao dropped down, he wouldn't have had any breath left in him.
It was just that this one breath was only one breath. It wouldn't take longer than a minute or two before he died.
Certainly, the pharmacist had the Snowy Ginseng Pill and the average Rejuvenation Pill, but this Rejuvenation Pill couldn't immediately heal wounds or enrich the blood, so what use was it?
— Directly taking the Snowy Ginseng Pill would cause violent exsanguination. [1] He might as well not take it at all.
Rescuing someone was like putting out a fire. Gu Zuo quickly came over and took out a high grade Rejuvenation Pill. He pat that pitiful pharmacist on the shoulder: “Don't take any offense, but why not use this one?”
That pharmacist was a middle-aged man. He looked at Gu Zuo's young appearance and his first reaction was to reprimand him. However, once he saw the light yellow medicinal pill in Gu Zuo's hand, his eyes shined: “Is this that sort of…”
Gu Zuo nodded: “Quickly, give young master Huangfu this medicine, or else it'll be too late.”
The middle-aged pharmacist didn't dare neglect anything and immediately pried open Zhanghao's lips and teeth and put in the high grade Rejuvenation Pill.
Sure enough, the healing speed of his injuries could be seen by the naked eye instantly.
This kind of result could almost be said to be miraculous!
Huangfu Zhanghao's breathing also gradually resumed a steady rhythm.
After that, the pharmacist only needed to give him a Snowy Ginseng Pill and use all kinds of different methods on hand to nurse him back to health. Naturally, there wouldn't be any major hindrances.
Seeing this kind of spectacle, the middle-aged pharmacist's face flickered with thankfulness.
He was a pharmacist groomed by the Huangfu Clan and normally had countless methods for saving people. However, even if he had many cheat skills, for this sort of dreadful injury, he had no way of bringing a person back from the brink of death.
…Mainly, the medicinal pills didn't have enough strength.
At present, Gu Zuo's medicine saved Huangfu Zhanghao's life and also averted the possibility of this pharmacist taking the fall.
Directly to the side, the anxious protector of the young master, Huangfu Gaode, was Zhanghao's beloved uncle, who cared about this nephew the most. Now seeing that Zhanghao was without worry, his heart was filled with feelings of grat.i.tude.
He faced Gu Zuo and said: “Many thanks, honorable pharmacist, for the grace of saving Zhanghao's life. The Huangfu Clan owes you a favor.”
Gu Zuo promptly waved his hand back and forth.
He didn't have any inclination about asking for this favor. When he thought about this important person wanting to return the favor, who would've known that Gu Zuo wanted to throw himself into a pit?
So, he just said: “Senior is being polite. In fact, to make things clear, my young master said that if he was undergoing a trial and there were some of citizens of the Cangyun Empire on business… Then, I would provide some medicinal pills for testing. Success or failure would've been difficult to guess. That the young master Huangfu was able to be saved is also a testament to his exceptionally good luck.”
Huangfu Gaode could never have antic.i.p.ated the kind of words Gu Zuo spoke. However, this youngster, who seemed to know his place, actually produced a good impression.
Although this good impression wasn't enough to make him take note of Gu Zuo, all of a sudden, he was shocked. Gu Zuo's charity and his ability to adapt to circ.u.mstances were truly things that he valued. In addition, to Gongyi Tianheng, who taught this youngster, his evaluation was even higher.
In the end, Gu Zuo and Huangfu Gaode weren't on the same level. This Xiantian powerhouse spoke a couple of sentences to Gu Zuo to express the Huangfu Clan's grat.i.tude. Then, Gu Zuo tactfully retreated.
However, the actions of Gu Zuo presenting medicine caused the expressions of the Helian clansmen to become a little ugly.
This was because Helian Xingcheng also received a grievous wound, but Gu Zuo didn't raise the topic of giving medicine at all.
In their view, this was the different att.i.tudes the Gongyi Clan had towards the Huangfu Clan and the Helian Clan. This didn't give the Helian Clan face! This was looking down on them!
…Although, these sort of words also weren't that wrong. However, between one who could be saved and one who didn't need saving, he had to use his life saving miracle medicine sparingly. According to reason, this was something that everyone could understand.
Unfortunately, the Helian Clan totally didn't intend to understand.
Gu Zuo felt a coldness on his body.
He could sense that this chilliness was…coming from the Helian Clan?
At that time, his mood was out of sorts.
Yes, he really still had plenty more Rejuvenation Pills and he deliberately didn't give one for the Helian Clan to use. But this definitely wasn't for the sake of targeting them. That Xingcheng wasn't going to lose his life, so why must he offer what was considered his own medicinal pills? Previously, the Helian Clan acted this way to his big brother from day one, so he couldn't be blamed now for paying them back in kind! Let alone that he had lots Rejuvenation Pills, could they simply take one for their own use? That wasn't logical! With great difficulty, his big brother paved the way for him so that many people would have a set of three Rejuvenation Pills in hand. If he took one out to even save the life of a person whom he didn't particularly cherish, then wasn't that too suspicious?
It was normal for them to dislike him after settling this matter, and feeling unhappy was also normal. But, how could've this led to wanting to kill someone?!
Gu Zuo had been in this world for quite some time. He could sense killing intent aimed at him from the Helian Clan!
Just based on this, the next time Helian Xingcheng was going to die, Gu Zuo wasn't going to save him!
After silently cursing him in his heart for a while, Gu Zuo cooled down.
Today's matter made him realize something even more.
In this d.a.m.ned world, it didn't matter if everyone had cooperative relationships. Inevitably there would be some people who would ruthlessly kill others for trivial matters or minor disagreements.
Indeed, this was regarding human lives like crickets and ants.
Moreover, within the brief period of time with Gu Zuo's actions, those on the grindstones had endured for several rounds.
Apart from a small of number who were still standing strong, there were quite a few martial artists who were flung from the grindstone — Naturally, those flung off were already corpses. In any case, more than half of those who could withdraw were still alive.
The life and death grindstone seemed as if it were very ordinary, but in fact, as more time pa.s.sed, those who were in tough spots were not less than those from the previous first round trial.
Similarly, they were all badly mangled and mutilated. The casualties were disastrously high.
— As a matter of fact, another large batch of people were eliminated.
Two hours pa.s.sed, then another two hours.
The color of the sky went from very bright to dark and gloomy to completely black. It was even more challenging for the martial artists facing the sword lights on the grindstones.
Most of all, just as it became dusk, the corpses that were tossed out had reached a terrifying number!
Within a couple short breaths, over twenty people had died!
Most of the martial artists who gradually adapted afterwards were also in bad shape.
Gu Zuo, who couldn't take his eyes off of Gongyi Tianheng, discovered that his silver spear was like a perpetual motion machine whose brandishing waves didn't stop in the least. That position in the darkness seemed especially heroic and eye-catching.
Cang Yu was also still alive. Merely, he wasn't like Tianheng, who still didn't have any trace of injuries. His body more or less already carried a few sword wounds.
As for his mental state, he shined as if he could still press on.
Slowly, two hours were left… One hour was left… Half an hour…
Practically all the martial artists who persevered up to now had suffered tremendously. Not only their physical strength, their true qi were also close to exhausted. Their complexions were either flushed or deathly pale; all had an appearance of dried up oil lanterns.
Finally, the grindstones stopped.
At this time, the spectating martial artists found that the number of people who persevered for these sixteen hours were far unlike the spa.r.s.e numbers they considered.
There were at least one or two people left on each grindstone.
At this moment, the martial artists who entered the life and death grindstones totaled three hundred twenty four. One hundred thirty eight people died. One hundred fifty four survived with serious injuries. The people who could directly enter the final fights numbered thirty two.
These thirty two were precisely those who lasted up to the very end. As for the one hundred fifty four walking-wounded, they could still advance to the third round's trial — That is, they could still advance to the tournament.
Gongyi Tianheng hopped off the grindstone. He was the sole survivor among the eighteen on the designated grindstone.
His complexion was pale and he walked with a slight limp. Once Tianheng walked over, Gu Zuo promptly went up to welcome him. Gu Zuo lent an arm to support him and asked with deep concern: “Big… Young master, how are you doing?”
Tianheng revealed a pinched smile: “I've exhausted my true qi. I need to meditate for a long time till I've recovered.”
Gu Zuo's eyebrows slightly creased. Gu Zuo pulled him over to the sit on the side, and took out a top grade Qi Generating Pill for him.
In any case, the other people didn't know about the existence of this kind of medicinal pill, so it wasn't likely for someone to s.n.a.t.c.h it. Only… Was one pill enough? Even when he first met his big brother when he was still sick and weak, Tianheng never seemed so miserable. It truly left one ill at ease.
Gu Zuo thought about it, and focused his psychic power: Big brother, you…
Then, Gongyi Tianheng's m.u.f.fled laughter was transmitted into his mind.
Gu Zuo: ?
Tianheng's voice carried a smile: Don't worry, Ah Zuo. I'm just pretending. Although I've used up a lot of my true qi, I have as many as six sets of bone pearls in my body. It's naturally easier for me than the others. Right now, I can't come out in the open about this. Acting exhausted is just for saving trouble.
Gu Zuo was also concerned about such problems. At this time, he reacted.
Ah, right. His big brother's true qi capacity should've been at least six times that of ordinary martial artists. There were a couple dozen who all lasted to the end. Even if their bodies' true qi reserves were large, no matter how good their cultivation methods, they certainly couldn't achieve a ridiculous six-fold capacity. Since it was like this, if they could all support themselves, how could his big brother be so miserable?
Gu Zuo already had a relatively good control over his facial expressions. Just then, he looked at Tianheng's posture and sized him up, only to discover some clues.
The clothes of this person actually hadn't been pierced much by the sword lights. The sleeves, hem, and lapel of his robes could all be said to be tattered, but his skin didn't have any large wounds. Only some non-vital locations had a few b.l.o.o.d.y sword cuts…
This was, without a doubt, a feint.
Gu Zuo realized that it didn't seem like an exaggeration for his dear big brother, who wouldn't do anything he couldn't do, to enter the final line-up.
In particular, Cang Yu, who was from the same empire, had also smoothly persevered to the end. Despite his injuries being a bit more serious than Tianheng's, he was still in high spirits.
Sure enough, big brother was always very wise.
After feeling relieved, Gu Zuo started complaining.
The Helian Clan's intent couldn't be hidden. It was better to ask his big brother what should be done…
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[1] The Snowy Ginseng Pill is a blood replenisher. Taking it while gravely wounded would be the same as pouring water into a cracked cup.
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T/N: Sorry for the slight delays. I was preoccupied with studying for a test.
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